Wednesday, March 18, 2009

ScanLife

Have you seen ScanLife by ScanBuy?



I saw it first in the February digital edition of website Magazine.



As big as it is, I still flew by it on the front cover as I opened up the February digital edition, but then I was seeing the ScanLife barcodes throughout the magazine, then I found the info about ScanLife, downloaded the app and tried it out.



I was able to scan the barcode off of the screen or off of a printout, then was directed to the related website. Kind of interesting technology, but not sure I cared for it within the digital edition of the magazine. Would prefer just having a link from within the digital magazine, rather than having to grab my phone. You may see it in more and more places though.




Here are a few you can try.


This Blog:




My Photoblog:




Google 411:

6 comments:

David Javitch said...

There are about 6 codes in the February print edition. It's a cooler application because it gives you links to the digital site. You should check it out!

Bonj said...

Thanks for your comment David. I did try them out. Of course, the plus to the content I reach via the scan fashion is that what I reach can always be updated more easily than a publication, but I would much rather read the content in the browser on my computer than the browser on my phone.

If I am out shopping and I don't know what a pumelo is, it might be handy to pull out the phone, scan a barcode and find out more, but in that situation I don't have my computer up and running in front of me.

It might also be another way to allow one to scan the barcode on a product, send them to a website which displays a barcode (coupon) that they can use at the checkout, similar to recent stories I have seen where some companies may push coupon/advertising to phones specific to your location, utilizing the GPS on your phone (supposedly they will be opt-in programs). At least one would hope that the scan approach would limit it to just when you scan, so your choice each time, not just an on or off option.

Once again, there are possibilities, but if I am reading an online magazine I would like to get to the related content on the computer with its better viewing capabilities.

I did note that at least one of the boxes included a link within the text as well as the barcode, which might at least give the reader the choice of which way to get there.

streetstylz said...

NeoMedia Technologies grandfathered this technology back in the mid 90’s and have been doing mobile code scanning and comparison shopping via barcodes long before any other company in this space.

NeoMedia on ABC & NBC News circa 2004:
http://www.qode.com/videos/PaperClickOnAbc7.wmv
http://www.qode.com/videos/PaperClickOnNbc8.wmv

NeoMedia has a rich patent portfolio that covers scanning barcodes with a camera enabled mobile device to connect to the Internet, comparison shop, and/or retrieve online content.

http://www.qode.com/en/patents.jsp

NeoMedia brought suit against Scanbuy for patent infringement, Litigation has been ongoing.

Bonj said...

I did actually see that noted somewhere else.

Sounds as if it will be settled in court, unless one side or the other decides to give in.

I did notice that qode currently doesn't support my Samsung Instinct.

David Javitch said...

I think ScanLife works with the Instinct because they have a deal with Sprint.

Bonj said...

That could be, but looking at their download page, it looks as though they probably have deals with carriers other than Sprint as well.